Popular baby names in North Dakota, 1940

The most popular baby names in North Dakota in 1940 were Mary for girls (230 babies) and Robert for boys (242). Robert ranked #2 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 10,902 babies born in North Dakota in 1940 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in North Dakota in 1940

Names given at least 15 times in North Dakota that year and at least twice as common as in the US as a whole.

Girls

Marlys: 39 babies, 28.4× the national rate
Mavis: 21 babies, 13.6× the national rate
Lavonne: 17 babies, 11.1× the national rate
Myrna: 42 babies, 6.1× the national rate
Darlene: 83 babies, 5.7× the national rate
Marcella: 18 babies, 5.4× the national rate
Colleen: 16 babies, 5.3× the national rate
Gayle: 25 babies, 5× the national rate
Leona: 22 babies, 4.6× the national rate
Claudia: 17 babies, 4.2× the national rate

Boys

Duane: 62 babies, 9.3× the national rate
Lyle: 38 babies, 9.1× the national rate
Myron: 21 babies, 7.7× the national rate
Darrel: 17 babies, 7.4× the national rate
Loren: 20 babies, 7.1× the national rate
Jerome: 62 babies, 5.9× the national rate
Rodney: 37 babies, 5.5× the national rate
Clayton: 16 babies, 5.5× the national rate
Dennis: 166 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Vernon: 38 babies, 4.1× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in North Dakota, 1940

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1939	US rank
1	Mary	230	–	1
2	Sharon	209	↑3	17
3	Carol	148	–	6
4	Janice	148	↓2	22
5	Patricia	134	↓1	3
6	Shirley	124	–	9
7	Karen	107	↑10	34
8	Judith	100	↑4	4
9	Sandra	95	↑29	10
10	Betty	93	↓3	5
11	Darlene	83	↓3	79
12	Barbara	81	↓1	2
13	Donna	81	↓3	23
14	Dorothy	81	↑4	12
15	Beverly	77	↓6	27
16	Margaret	75	↓1	11
17	Judy	71	↑11	16
18	Joyce	70	↓2	13
19	Gloria	65	↑8	30
20	Linda	65	↑17	8
21	Janet	59	↑9	19
22	Marilyn	59	↓8	25
23	Diane	58	new	45
24	Marlene	58	↓11	80
25	Bonnie	54	↑7	39
26	Joan	54	↓3	14
27	Kathleen	52	↑12	40
28	Elaine	51	↑1	50
29	Lois	51	↓7	38
30	Arlene	50	↑3	75
31	Doris	48	↑16	31
32	Virginia	48	↑17	21
33	Kay	46	new	77
34	Alice	45	↑16	32
35	Delores	44	↓4	83
36	Phyllis	44	↓10	33
37	Myrna	42	↑11	>100
38	Marlys	39	↓13	>100
39	Marjorie	38	new	64
40	Jean	36	↓19	29
41	Joann	36	↓21	63
42	Geraldine	35	new	46
43	Carole	33	↑1	49
44	Helen	33	↓25	18
45	Jeanette	33	↓10	90
46	Joanne	33	↓22	54
47	Loretta	33	new	69
48	Nancy	33	↓12	7
49	Ruth	33	↓9	24
50	Ann	31	new	35

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1939	US rank
1	Robert	242	↑1	2
2	James	223	↓1	1
3	Richard	213	↑1	5
4	John	196	↑1	3
5	Gary	190	↑2	19
6	David	186	–	7
7	Donald	185	↓4	9
8	Dennis	166	↑3	24
9	Larry	153	↓1	13
10	Kenneth	133	↑4	15
11	Gerald	127	↓1	21
12	Ronald	125	↓3	10
13	William	125	↓1	4
14	Roger	92	↓1	26
15	Charles	91	–	6
16	Jerry	78	↑4	14
17	Paul	72	↑2	17
18	Dale	69	–	57
19	Wayne	64	↑2	39
20	Raymond	63	↓3	22
21	Duane	62	↓5	>100
22	Jerome	62	↑4	95
23	Thomas	61	↓1	8
24	Michael	59	↑8	18
25	Marvin	56	↓1	63
26	George	53	↓1	11
27	Leroy	51	↑3	66
28	Joseph	50	↑1	12
29	Eugene	48	↓6	38
30	Bruce	42	new	55
31	Edward	39	↓4	16
32	Lyle	38	↑6	>100
33	Vernon	38	↑3	>100
34	Daniel	37	↓1	34
35	Leonard	37	↑9	54
36	Rodney	37	↑6	>100
37	Gordon	36	↓2	91
38	Allen	33	↓7	71
39	Douglas	33	↑8	56
40	Arthur	32	new	33
41	Harold	32	↓7	23
42	Lawrence	31	new	36
43	Jack	30	new	29
44	Gene	28	↑1	70
45	Glenn	28	new	83
46	Norman	28	↓5	48
47	Frank	26	new	20
48	Lloyd	26	↓2	100
49	Melvin	26	↓10	53
50	Patrick	26	–	74

← North Dakota 1939 North Dakota: all years · US 1940 North Dakota 1941 →